Jubilee Ministry Stories

[11/11/2011]
Arkansas' St. Francis House program helps homeless veterans re-enter society
Eight years ago, Vietnam veteran Garry Clemmons was a homeless addict, depressed and anxious. Today, he's sober, remarried and working for the Episcopal Church-sponsored program he credits with turning his life around: the Veterans Re-Entry Program at St. Francis House in the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas

[10/18/2011]
Becca Stevens recognized as White House 'Champion of Change'
The Rev. Becca Stevens, author, Episcopal priest and social entrepreneur, has been named by the White House's Office of Public Engagement as one of 15 "Champions of Change" for her pioneering work with Magdalene/Thistle Farms, a residential community and social enterprise she founded to serve women who have survived prostitution, addiction and abuse

[10/11/2011]
Tulsa-area agencies hold event for World Homeless Action Day
[Tulsa (OK) World] Representatives from several area social-service agencies gathered outside the Iron Gate soup kitchen at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma, to show support for homeless people and provide them with food, supplies and information about various programs as part of World Homeless Action Day, an annual event held worldwide on Oct. 10.

[9/26/2011]
Clinics provide free health care
[WAFF (AL)] The cost of health care is going through the roof. In many areas, free clinics are popping up to help people who don't have insurance. St. John's Episcopal Outreach Center in Decatur, Alabama, is one of the places people depend on for health care.

[9/16/2011]
St. Benedict Health and Healing Ministry finds new home
[The Daily Camera (CO)] For years, St. Benedict Health and Healing Ministry operated out of the trunk of a car and a small office in the home of Sally Bowersox, the nurse and Episcopal priest who founded the mobile clinic in Boulder County, Colorado. Now the homeless clinic has found a home, and its organizers hope to use its new base to raise awareness and expand its services.

[8/26/2011]
Massachusetts church group volunteers in Honduras
[Lexington (MA) Minuteman] A group of Lexington, Massachusetts, residents gained new perspective on how people live in some other parts of the world after taking part in a service trip to Honduras recently.

[8/19/2011]
Camp teaches children community building skills
[Frederick (MD) News Post] Camp Amazing Grace -- sponsored by the Prison Ministry Task Force of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland -- has been held for the past six years for children between 8 and 12 years old whose parents have been incarcerated. Children come from all throughout the Maryland to attend, connect with nature and learn how to be a healthy, respectful community together.

[8/7/2011]
New program readies men for job-seeking success
[Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder] The Episcopal Community Services’ (ECS) Ready for Success Men’s Program provides low-income men with barely used and new business and business casual clothing, accessories and personal care items to help prepare them for job interviews and the workplace.

[8/6/2011]
Families line up for backpack giveaway at St. George's
[Courier-Journal (KY)] Every kid needs supplies for going back to school, but not every family can afford them. That’s the reasoning behind the efforts of the St. George's Community Center in Louisville, Kentucky, where hundreds of people lined up for free backpacks and school supplies Saturday morning.

[8/1/2011]
Idaho churches raise money to feed hungry locally and globally
[Coeur d'Alene (ID) Press] The Bible says to feed the hungry, so that's what St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, did. St. Luke's, along with seven other Episcopal churches, raised more than $90,000 through the new "Organizing for Mission" program in March and April, the season of Lent.

[7/17/2011]
Children findfun, friends at camp with a misson
[Goshen (IN) News] At most summer camps, the situation would be unusual. But at Camp New Happenings, each child at the camp has at least one parent incarcerated in a state or federal facility.

[7/5/2011]
New Bethany Ministries celebrates 25 years of serving the poor in Bethlehem
[Lehigh Valley (PA) Express-Times] On Dec. 5, 1985, the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem opened the door to its first family at the New Bethany Ministries transitional housing facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Today the organization offers 72 homes for the homeless throughout the Lehigh Valley, as well as feeding hundreds daily at its Bethlehem soup kitchen and food bank.

[6/19/2011]
Healing, hope are big business at Thistle Farms
[The Tennessean] The numbers would make any 10-year-old business owner drool with envy: $500,000 in expected sales this year. A lengthy inventory of luxurious handmade products with placement nationwide. An 11,000-square-foot building that houses manufacturing, shipping, inventory and retail. All run by former prostitutes and drug addicts whom no one else would hire.

[6/5/2011]
REACH helps the homeless get back on their feet
[Wilkes-Barre Times Leader] On most days more than 40 homeless enter the basement of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church to get a shower, check their mail, grab a little breakfast or use a telephone. But on July 1, the homeless services at REACH go away due to budgetary constraints.

[5/23/2011]
Should it be saved?: A forum on blight
[Gambit Weekly - New Orleans (LA)] What criteria makes one blighted property ripe for demolition and another worthy of expensive and time-consuming repairs? Is it the history of the house, who lived there, the architectural style, or whether it is structurally dangerous or a haven for vagrants and illegal activities? How much weight should the desires and needs of the neighbors carry?

[5/19/2011]
Community Kitchen To Be Certified As A Jubilee Ministry
[The Chattanoogan (TN)] Having served more than 180,000 meals in 2010, and having helped hundreds with permanent housing and employment, the Chattanooga Community Kitchen works to display faith in action every day. The public is invited to join in the celebration as the Kitchen is once again certified as a Jubilee Ministry.

[5/10/2011]
REACH’s end leaves homeless with few options
[Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times-Leader] Barring “a miracle” or an organization stepping in to take over homeless services, REACH Inc., a “grass-roots ministry of last resort for the less fortunate,” will be forced to close the doors of its drop-in center in the basement of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, due to lack of funding.

[5/2/2011]
Blessings come in a filled backpack
[Bradenton (FL) Herald] Funded through the local, nonprofit organization People Helping People, Blessings in a Backpack is a national program that feeds elementary school children who qualify for free or reduced meals and have little to no food on the weekends.

[5/2/2011]
New wellness clinic to be dedicated in Naco, Sonora: Annual procession to take place
[Sierra Vista (AZ) Herald] “Join Episcopalians and other pilgrims for the 6th Naco Border Procession,” says a flyer announcing the procession. “We gather in solidarity with brothers and sisters in the sleepy pueblo of Naco, Mexico. We enter this tiny border community in a show of respect and unity and remind one another that God knows no walls or separation.”

[5/1/2011]
Artists donate to St. Margaret's House
[South Bend (IN) Tribune] The 22 artists who contribute work to the annual "Compassion Is a Work of Art" fundraiser for St. Margaret's House, a day center for women and children located at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. James in downtown South Bend, Indiana, had one major consideration as they tried to figure out what to donate: what will sell?

[4/27/2011]
A Business That Helps Prostitutes Bloom In Recovery
[NPR] For prostitutes looking to get drug free and off the streets, the Magdalene program in Nashville, Tennessee, offers housing, therapy and a self-sustaining small business, Thistle Farms, that allows the women it serves to make money and gain respect. (Last in a three-part series)

[4/26/2011]
Relapse And Recovery: A Tale Of Two Prostitutes
[NPR] At Magdalene, communities of women live for free, get counseling and transform their lives. The Rev. Becca Stevens started the program in 1997, following her calling to serve prostitutes and abused women. (Second in a three-part series)

[4/25/2011]
For Prostitutes, An Alternative To The Streets
[NPR] Nashville, Tennessee, arrested more than 1,100 people for prostitution and solicitation in 2010. For those who want to go straight and clean up, there's a program in Nashville that can help. It's called Magdalene. (First in a three-part series)

[4/7/2011]
Resources for Community and Faith-Based Organizations
[White House] This list is just the beginning of grant opportunities and is not meant to be a comprehensive list. All grant announcements are listed and searchable on Grants.gov if you want to review the range of opportunities that might be available for your organization.

[3/24/2011]
Sudanese refugees find faith in the future (video)
[CNN] In the mid-morning Arizona sun a group of Sudanese immigrants begin to trickle into a small church yard. Songs of jubilation fill the air as the youth choir begins to practice inside. This is St. Paul the Apostle Sudanese Episcopal Church, thought to be the first Sudanese church in the United States.

[2/7/2011]
Sunday service: Tulsans help feed needy, homeless
[Tulsa (OK) World] With plans canceled for a Super Bowl party at Trinity Episcopal Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Brotherhood of St. Lawrence channeled their cooking skills into helping those in need.

[2/6/2011]
Counting who's out in the cold in Houston
[Houston (TX) Chronicle] It's a little after 5 p.m. when Donnie Wilson and his team head out in a white van loaded with blankets, underwear, toiletries and food. Their assignment for the next five hours is to canvass an area to count people living on the streets.

[1/28/2011]
Homeless count helps shape services
[Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch] Knowing more about the approximately 1,000 homeless people in the Richmond region helps the agency and others who serve the homeless do their jobs more effectively.

[1/27/2011]
Homeless advocate with the unforgettable name is retiring
[Dallas (TX) Morning News] The homeless simply know her as “Rev. Bubba.” The Rev. Beulah Dailey started helping the homeless decades ago by delivering blankets under bridges. And now, the Episcopal priest with the unforgettable nickname plans to retire after working for 28 years at the Austin Street Centre.

[1/4/2011]
This is not your typical soup kitchen
[Kansas City Star] On a bone-chilling December morning, bundled-up men and women line up outside a nondescript brown building waiting for the city soup kitchen to open for the noon meal. But then the doors open, and it becomes clear: This is not your typical soup kitchen.